Developer and operator of single family build-to-rent (BTR) housing, Present Made and homebuilder, Miller Homes, have formed a joint venture (JV) to deliver a 650-home mixed-tenure community in Bedfordshire. The 170-acre site, currently known as Mill View, will feature a blend of private-sale, affordable and single-family build-to-rent (BTR) housing. Construction
Leading building services engineering practice, Tate Consulting, has promoted Aaron Stevenson to director of its Belfast office. The promotion is in line with the firm’s ongoing expansion programme and numerous high profile contract wins, which will create more jobs in the coming months. Aaron joined Tate Consulting at the end
BDC 317 : Jun 2024
Developer and operator of single family build-to-rent (BTR) housing, Present Made and homebuilder, Miller Homes, have formed a joint venture (JV) to deliver a 650-home mixed-tenure community in Bedfordshire. The 170-acre site, currently known as Mill View, will feature a blend of private-sale, affordable and single-family build-to-rent (BTR) housing. Construction is set to commence in Q4 of 2024, with the initial homes expected to be completed by 2025. Mill View underscores Miller Homes’ expertise in forming joint ventures to create exceptional homes and communities. It also represents Present Made’s first triple-tenure transaction, including private sale, affordable and BTR residences. Located in a cluster of villages 13 minutes south of central Bedford, the site forms part of the wider Wixam Park masterplan, which includes over 1,500 homes and five-acres of employment land. The site benefits from outline planning consent for a new primary school, community infrastructure and an 87-acre country park. Mill View, soon to be rebranded, represents the newest addition to Miller Homes’ growing portfolio in the South Midlands region. Among the other developments by Miller Homes in this area are Miller Homes @ Forster Park in Stevenage, Norwood Quarter in Northampton, Miller Homes at Stanton Cross in Wellingborough and Arlesey Gate in Arlesey. Alan Penfold, Managing Director at Present Made, said: “In Miller Homes, we have a five-star, best-in-class delivery partner renowned for its quality of product and speed of execution. The delivery partner model will help Present Made achieve scale faster while ensuring we maintain the highest design, build and operational standards. This relentless focus has defined Apache Capital’s purpose-built prime multi-family build-to-rent strategy and will see us deliver a new community at Mill View that sets new benchmarks for excellence.” Benjamin Massey, Divisional Managing Director at Miller Homes, stated: “We are pleased to have formed this joint venture with Present Made to deliver 650 mixed tenure homes in Bedford, enabling us to complete this significant land acquisition together, and we hope it forms the foundation for other opportunities. “Building mixed tenure homes as part of our business model allows us to continue diversifying our portfolio, while creating new opportunities for land acquisition and supporting our overall growth ambitions to 6,500 homes per year. Mill View will offer residents a blend of thriving town life and picturesque countryside living, easy access to local transport links, and green spaces including the new country park on the doorstep.” John Dunkerley, CEO at Apache Capital, said: “The tri-tenure model is a win-win for investors, communities, and housebuilders: investors get to satisfy the ‘triple bottom line’ by delivering solid financial, environmental and social returns, communities get a broad range of much-needed new housing, while housebuilders get de-risked sites and diversified sources of income beyond highly cyclical market sales. We see this model as being key to scaling our Present Made platform as we look to work with third-party capital to capitalise on the opportunity presented by the UK’s rapidly changing housing market.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Leading building services engineering practice, Tate Consulting, has promoted Aaron Stevenson to director of its Belfast office. The promotion is in line with the firm’s ongoing expansion programme and numerous high profile contract wins, which will create more jobs in the coming months. Aaron joined Tate Consulting at the end of 2021, which coincided with the Yorkshire headquartered company’s expansion into Belfast. Since then, Aaron has worked alongside fellow Tate Consulting director, Jim Lee, to grow the office organically and it now employs a 10-strong team close to Belfast City Airport in the Belmont Office Park on Belmont Road. Prior to joining Tate Consulting, Aaron spent 25 years working for several other well-known engineering firms in Northern Ireland. In his new role, as well as overseeing the delivery of projects and leading the team, Aaron is responsible for managing the office’s finances, policies and recruitment, with plans already in place to appoint several new people, including associates and senior associates. Tate Consulting provides a full range of commercial engineering solutions from mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) concept design to project handover and post-occupancy evaluation, as well as building physics, fire engineering services, sustainability and building performance assessments and master planning. In recent months, the company has won several major projects including large-scale residential schemes in central London, Brentford, Southampton, Manchester, Leeds and York, which combined will consist of more than 3000 homes. Aaron said: “Our growth to date in Belfast has outstripped all our expectations and we’ve already completed a wide range of significant projects throughout the UK and Ireland, as well as building a solid and professional team. In recent months we’ve been appointed on another tranche of projects, particularly in the residential market, where developers want our expertise of working on high-rise and very energy efficient schemes with high quality amenities. “As a result of these latest wins, we’re now ready to expand our team further with ambitious and experienced people who aspire to work on career defining projects. All this makes it a very exciting time to step up to director level and I’m looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.” Shane Tate, managing director at Tate Consulting added: “Aaron has been instrumental in us quickly establishing a strong foothold in Belfast and he thoroughly deserves this promotion. In the past two and half years, the Belfast team have completed projects across the residential, retail, industrial and leisure sectors, and further enhanced Tate Consulting’s reputation for adding significant value to projects and we’re now ready to embark on our next phase of growth.” Projects that Tate Consulting’s Belfast team have recently completed work on several new stores for high street giant, The Range, and several projects in and around the Dublin area, including a substantial 450,000 sq ft. state of the art distribution centre for Primark. In London the Belfast team have worked on a stunning new 30-storey apartment development at West India Dock Road at Canary Wharf, known as Vetro, and provided full mechanical and electrical services in new fitness suites created at The Clubhouse, which is an exclusive gym within Royal Wharf. The company has also worked on the sensitive renovation of a Grade II-listed neo-classical United Reformed Church, which sits at the heart of Leamington Spa’s Creative Quarter masterplan. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
